The United States vowed to aggressively defend itself and its allies after North Korea furiously threatened a pre-emptive nuclear strike against the US in the face of sanctions handed down by the United Nations (UN) Security Council on Thursday.

“I can tell you that the United States is fully capable of defending against any North Korean ballistic missile attack,” said White House press secretary Jay Carney to reporters on Thursday, adding that Pyongyang “will achieve nothing by threats or provocations which will only further isolate North Korea and undermine international efforts to achieve peace and stability.”

The threat[2] – in which North Korea referred to the sanctions as part of a “war of aggression” led by the United States – came from a spokesman for the North Korean Foreign Ministry immediately before the Security Council voted on the sanctions.

In a statement carried by North Korea’s official news agency, the spokesman said, “Since the United States is about to ignite a nuclear war, we will be exercising our right to pre-emptive nuclear attack against the headquarters of the aggressor in order to protect our supreme interest.”